christmas countdown: phonebook wreath redux

Last year I wrote up a recycled wreath tutorial on scrumdilly-do using a cereal box, paint and a couple of pages from an old phone book. Here's a "grown-up" version that'll dazzle you to smiles...I hope!


You will need:
*white paint
*white/frosty glitter
*scissors
*1-3 pages from an old phonebook
*white glue
*cardboard (cereal box)
*large bowl & smaller bowl (these will be your templates)
*pen or pencil
*paperclip, picture hanger or pop tab from a beverage can
*exacto knife (optional)

The first thing you will need to do is paint up a couple of pages of your phone book. I'm using white but it goes without saying that you can use any color you wish. Sprinkle a happy dose of glitter onto your wet pages and set aside to dry.Grab a semi-large piece of cardboard, poster board or a large cereal box and flatten it out if it hasn't been flattened yet. This will be the base of your wreath. Get your bowl and trace around the outside edge to create your template. Next, center your smaller bowl and trace.Cut out large circle and cut out the smaller circle inside. Ta-da! You have a wreath...or a very large and skinny donut, you decide.Paint your wreath template white and set aside to dry. This is just in case you poop out on filling in your wreath and little bits peek through. You can skip this is you feel a glue frenzy coming on.Cut your now dry painted phonebook pages into smallish squares about 2" (5cm) square.Cover your template in glue and get ready to channel your inner arty child. Take a square and crumple it just a bit around the eraser end of a pencil and plop it onto your frame. Continue until your wreath is as full as you imagined.Add any other embellishments you would like such as a bow, pinecone or what have you, hang and admire. Get the wreath making bug and make a rainbow of them spreading even more glitter throughout your home. I would love to see your take on this project. Will you keep me posted?

the week in review: nov 30-dec 6

i cannot lie. i spent way too much time, mug o tea in hand, gazing out the window watching all the birdies in the garden. you put in one little birdbath and you becomes the hottest garden on the block. i am enchanted by their antics and feel that if it were not for mr. a-go-go and me only owning one cat i would be a finger snap away from being an old cat lady. maybe if i keep myself in stripey goodness and such i won't be so bad. besides, who woulda thunk there could be so many nifty birds in Hollywood? anyway, i watched a lot of birds this week. i baked a little, drank enormous amounts of tea and managed to write up to tutorials. there was a leetle bit of cleaning and a couple of visits to the doctor, two flu shots, one camera up the nose (NOT FUN) and a zillion pills later i'm still here kicking around. we even plotted out a tamale walk but ended up slurping up giant bowls of pho instead. a pretty good week, if i do say so myself. check out the pic on my flickr page for a wee bit more info if ya like. happy december!

i'm off to walk the neighborhood in search of something to stand on. it's pouring out, no driving for me!

the december bed

christmas countdown: make a festive garland a la dottie angel

Oh do I love me a garland or what? I think any excuse to make one is a good excuse. Back in September I dug out my crazy ENORMOUS stuffed to the gills bag of thrifted and felted wool sweaters. In my very-good-and-on-it brain I thought I would make felted throws for the holidays but it seems like that may not happen, but a garland is do-able..more than doable really and so I tucked that thought into the back of my mind and let is nest for awhile.

While my brain tumbled about wool sweaters and cookie recipes, it is after-all, THE holiday season, I decided to do a bit more towards the purge and rediscovered my small collection of vintage laces. These, I thought will look lovely stitched to some wool and bunted about. I pictured a lovingly faded stretch of lace with a dollop of wool prettiness spaced from one side to the other. I was thinking scallops and circles and old pearl buttons but then, THEN I saw the goodness that is Dottie Angel and swooned when I saw her lovely crocheted garland. I thought, I cannot crochet or knit but I can hack a sweater to pieces and add a bit of trim and so I did.

Here is my tribute to her lovely garland. You really can do it in a number of ways, here's how I did mine. Thank you Tif for your always inspirational blog, photos and craftiness!

You will need:

*felted wool pieces
*a bit of lace
*scissors
*bias tape
*sewing machine

First I dove into my pond of wool pieces and came up with three I thought would look festive for the season. I rummaged through the lace box and found a nice and perfectly sizes strand of yellow goodness. All I needed was to grab my scissors and get to cutting...I am not a person who measures. This may be why I simply cannot sew clothing but I like to think of it as an open book to crafting. Mix a little here, add a little there, cut a little bit and we're off! So the first thing I did was determine about how long I wanted my garland to be. I planned on making it for the bed so I felt that eight little flags would be a good size. Looking at my wool, I decided to cut three red, three green & two blue pieces. I determined the size of the flags by the size of the lace which I ended up cutting in exactly eight pieces as well.Next I used a zig-zag stitch to attach the lace to each flag.I then lay out my piece of bias tape and played with the pieces to figure out how I wanted them to dance. I pinned them in place and used a small running stitch all across the tape and the wool pieces.Finally I trimmed the threads, hung up my garland, did a little dance and snapped some happy pics! See? Super easy...also, hop on over to scrumdilly-do for a How To kids version. Happy December!

christmas countdown: make a holiday mix

click here if you can't see the playlist!

new project, new craft

have you seen? Craft has a whole new look. it is all purdy and shiny and everything nifty. i have a new project up for kids and another will be up shortly for your Christmas pleasure. stroll on over and check it out!